Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-06-03
SNAKES IN ILLINOIS.
How the Reptiles Abound in Rush
Township, 10 Daviess County.
Especial Correspondence
JOLIET, Ills, May 81.

Especial Correspondence
JOLIET, Ills, May 81.
The small group of mountains in Rush
township, up in 10 Daviess county, this state,
almost on the Iowa boundary, are fairly
alive with snake hunters, whenever a warm
day occurs, when the venomous reptiles
crawl out of their dens in the rocks and hud-
die together by the scores and hundreds in
the sunshine, many varieties often being
found massed together. The old time snake
hunters know just where to look for the rep
tiles, which at this season of the year are dull
and sluggish. Many orders are received from
showmen all over the country for live rat
tiers, and the snake hunters generally receive
from fifty cents to 81 each for them, accord
ing to their size and condition. 1t is not such
a dangerous matter to capture live rattlers as
many people suppose. The snake hunter pro
vides himself with a large canvas bag, a
pole eight feet long, with an iron hook at the
further end, and wire SO bent as to form
the outline for a slip moose of stout hemp
cord, the line continuing down the pole to the
operators hands. Arriving at the den OF the
shakes, the reptiles are hooked out from their
beds under the rocks where they lie basking
in the rays of the sun, then the slip moose i
adjusted over the head and neck, the cord
]
| lifted on the end of the pole and
thrown head first in the mouth of the sack,
which is held open by a boy in attendance,
! the cord is cut as near the rattlers head as
| careful discretion will permit, then another
! snake is hooked out, captured and bagged i'll
| the same manner, often as many as thirty or
| forty live ratllers being secured in one after
noon. The rattlers, once inside the sack, seem
| to take it easy, as matter of course, and
create no COmmOtiOn nor make any effort to
escape. After the snake hunter has secured
! as many rattlers as he DESIRES or as there
| happens to be within sight or fishing distance,
| he ties the mouth of the sack, throws the bag
| of venomOus reptiles over his shoulders and
| backs his burden into town with as little con
Germ as though he were carrying so many
dead quail Many folks in the region of the
Rush mountains deal largely in rattlcsnac
oil, which is popularity supposed to possess
! wonderful curative properties Of n warm
! afternoon "A whole troop of villagers will
! sally out into the mountains armed with
fails, cudgels and rods. and when they come
/ upon a den of snakes they proceed at once tt
. literally whip the life out of them with then
! lhreslin% fails. Few, if any, ot the tile,
! ever make their escape. The ratllers are as
| sorted out of the mass of dead and writing
reptiles, and carried home in sacks, where
the dead carcasses are thrown into
a rendering tank, and the oil all tried
out 1t is then carefully strained, bottled
| and labeled and is ready for the market and
often it is sold as high as 81 an ounce, so higl
a reputation has it secured as an unfailing
remedial agent for the cure of chronic rheu
matism and a dozen other ills the human
family is heir to. There resides in a subtel.
in ILL.,.
hermit who has for many years enjoyed a
wide local reputation in northern Illinois fol
his powers of healing snake bites. He is said
to be on the most familiar terms with all the
rattlers and other venomous snakes III these
mountains. He is said to cure snake bite.
| without the aid of any kind of medicine, and
apparently he delights to fellowship with and
hold control over every kind of venomous
reptile. he always protests against their be-
ing killed, and it is said that the largest and
most venomous rattlers inhabit his cave
and daily come to him to be ca
reSsed, and disappear in their den at hi
bd..ng. Whenever person W, hin ,.,e reac.
| OF this hermit Is bitten by a RATHER his heal
ing gift is invoked, and the patient is at ono,
relieved of all pains and the poison is ren
dered harmless He simply places hi
hands upon the wound and cautions the suf
ferer not TO take any whisky or other antidot,
offered by Others. He never accepts pay fol
his services in life saving The old hermit
has often been urged to divulge the secret OF
his uncanny art, but he only protests that il
is not incarnation, and that he is not il
league or compact with the evil one, but fur
Their satisfaction he will give no one
S. G. c.
There is nothing lazy about the big
Brooklyn bridge. 1t has earned $4,000 0O(
in four and TINT vii hnut nln,.i,.D